A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study of Tinnitus Awareness and Impact in a Population of Adult Cochlear Implant Users.
Philip A Gomersall, David M Baguley, Robert P Carlyon
PMID 29933258WHAT IT FOUND
Tinnitus remains a real concern for some adult cochlear implant users: 13% ranked it their top difficulty among six areas, and 28% ranked it first or second.
Many others had little or no tinnitus impact.
Key findings
01Tinnitus impact was the top concern for 13% of participants and first or second for 28% when compared with other implant-related difficulties.
02Tinnitus awareness varied widely: 30% scored 0 to 1, while 14% scored above 9 on the scale.
03Tinnitus impact did not show a relationship with time since implantation, participant age, or implant manufacturer.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 253 of 466 contacted adults returned a questionnaire, so respondents may differ from non-respondents. Respondents were older on average than non-respondents, which could affect tinnitus reporting. Nineteen respondents left one or more line ratings blank, and those with missing line ratings were excluded from ranking and correlation calculations. The study was cross-sectional and self-report, so it cannot show that implantation caused, reduced, or failed to reduce tinnitus. The questionnaire was designed for this study, and the authors state that existing tinnitus self-report measures may be less appropriate for cochlear implant users. Binaural implant users were excluded, so the results do not apply to that group. The population included many different devices, so comparisons between processor types and implant array designs were not meaningful.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cochlear implantation reduces tinnitus. The study measured tinnitus awareness and impact after implantation; it did not compare tinnitus before and after implantation.